Sectional clothesline



Sept. 19, 1933. '5 N rrc SECTIONAL CLOTHESLINE Filed March 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. G/z. 512T N. ETC/1. BY

Sept. 19, 1933. FITCH 1,927,341

SECTIONAL CLOTHESLINE Filed March 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. G/LBEE 7' /\4 fire/1.

Sept. 19, 1933. 1,927,341

SECTIONAL CLOTHESLINE Filed March 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 d/Lzze T A4 570/.

INVENTOR.

Patented Sept. 19, 1933 W I 4 UNITED 'sT-A SECTIONAL CLOTHESLINE Gilbert N. Fitch, Oakland, CaliL, V Application March 14, 1932. Serial No. 598,599 2 v 2 Claims.

simple in-construction, each section being made up from a fewinexpensive parts.

Otherobjects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

isa" My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisapplication, in which-- p Figure 1 is a. side elevation of the sectional clothes line, j r

Figure'2-isanenlarged detail view of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a section along theline 33 of Figure 2, r y, g 1 Figure 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of the device, v p

Figure 5 is a section along the line 5-5' of Figure4.' j I Figure 6 is a perspective viewof a portion of the device shown in Figures land 5. Figure 7 is a modified form of the device.

Figure 8 is a side elevation'of the'novel type of hook shown in Figure 7, and

Figure-9is a top plan view of Figure 8, and Figures 10, 11 and 12 are views of another modified form of the device.

In carrying out my invention, I make use of a supporting wire 1 preferably made of metal, this supporting Wire being of any length desired. I then provide a plurality of sectional clothes lines comprising elongated members either made from wood or metal. I prefer to make the members 2 about three feet in length, but it is obvious that any desired length may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

In Figures 1, 2, and 3 I show hangers 3 as being secured to the members 2 and as being hooked over the supporting wire 1. Eyelets 4 are secured to one endof the members 2,.while hooks 5 are secured to the other end of the members 2.

, are removed from the wire 1.

upon the hooks 5 so as to c nnect the members 2 together. 7 I

, The clothes are carried by ropes 6, the ends of the rope being passed through openings 7 in the members 2, and being tied in knots 8, whereby the ropes are secured in place. 7

From the foregoing description of .the various parts of the device, the operation thereof may be res PATENT OFFICE readily understood. The sections 2 are'removably securedtogether in the manner shown in Figures 1 and 2 and the sections are slidably disposed upon the supporting wire 1. The clothes may first be attached to the ropes 6 and then the ropes be supported by the wire 1 by disposing the hooks 3 over the wire. Each section as it is provided with clothes is disposed upon the wire and movedalong the wire to make room for the next section. This operation may be continued until as many sections as desiredmay be disposed upon the wire 1.

In removing theflclothes from the sections it is merely'necessary topullthe first section toward the operator, remove the section from the supporting wire and from the adjoining section, rea move the clothes from the section if desired, and

then repeat theoperationuntil all of, the sections Sections maybe kept in someclosed container if desired, whereby the sections will'be' protected from the elements. In this; way it is not necessary to clean the sections each time it is desired to hang the clothes out upon'the line. Where an exposed clothes line is used, it is always necessary to first'fclean the line before the clothes are secured to theline.

With my device this is not necessary; p

In Figures 4, 5',v and 6 1 show a modified-form of the device. "In this form. of the device'members 10, similar in shape to the members 2, are provided with slots 11 at each end thereof. These slots 11 bisect vertically extending bores 12 and horizontally extendingbores 13. Fastening devices of the shape shown in Figures 4 and 5. are disposed in the bores 12 and 13. The fastening devices 14 and 15 are provided with hooks 16 and .17. The fastening device 15 is provided with an eyelet 18, while the fastening device 14 is provided with a hook 19.

The fastening devices 14 and 15 are slipped into place, the portion of the members 10 adjacent to the slots 11 moving apart to permit the entrance of the fastening members into place. The hooks 16 are mounted upon the wire 1, and the eyelets 18 are securedto the hooks 19 in the manner shown in Figure 4. Ropes 20 are cut of a predetermined length so as to extend between the hooks 17 of one of the members 10. Knots 21 are tied in the ropes 20 and when the ropes are received in the hooks 1'7, the knots prevent the ropes from being pulled free of the hook.

The operation of this form of the device is identically the same with the operation of the form of the device shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. In the form of the device shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6, however, the ropes 20 may be removed from the members 10 if desired without the necessity of cutting the ropes as is the case in the form of the device shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The device is extremely simple in construction and is durable and efficient for the purpose intended.

The fasteners 14 and 15 may be secured in place by nails 22 if so desired, but the clamping action of the members upon the fasteners, would appear to be sufiicient to hold the members in place.

In Figures 7, 8 and 9 I show a modified form of the device. In this form of the device, the sections 50 are provided with eyelets 5 1 at one of the ends,'and with hooks 52 at their other ends. The particular shape of the books 52 is clearly shown in Figureil and also in Figure 9. It will be noted from these figures that the ends 53 of the hooks 52 terminate at a point which lies in the same horizontal plane as that of the body portions 50. Figure 9 shows how the end 53 is spaced from the body portion 50 for permitting the eyelets 51 to be thread onto the hooks 52. The eyelets when connected to the hooks will cause all of the sections connected together to move forwardly or backwardly when any one of the sections is moved.

The means for securing the section 50 to the supporting wire 54 consists of supporting members 55 which are welded or otherwise secured to each end of each section 50 as at 56 and. which are provided with hook-shaped ends 57 and 58.

The hooks 57 are adapted to be mounted upon the wire 54 while the hooks 58 are adapted to removably receive clothes carrying members 59. In the present form of the device the clothes carrying members 59 consist of ropes having knots tied in each end thereof.

In Figures 10, 11 and 12 I show another modified form of the device. In this form of the device clothes carrying ropes 100 are supported at their ends by hangers 101 and at their mid points by hangers 102. The hangers 101 are provided with an annular inwardly extending rib 103 (see Figure 11) This rib is preferably punched in the rope supporting end 104 of the hanger after the rope has been inserted in the end 104. The rope supporting end 105 of the hanger102 loosely receives the rope 100 and this permitsthe rope to be removed when desired.

The upper ends 106 of the hangers 101 and 102 are hook-shaped in the manner shown in Figure 12. The hangers 106 are adapted to be removably disposed upon a supporting wire 107 and be slidable therealong. The hangers 106 support the weight of the clothes carried by the ropes 100 and are spaced away from each other by a rod 108.

In Figure 11 I show an enlarged view of the adjacent ends of two of the sectional rods 108. One end of each rod 108 is provided with a hookshaped member 109, this member having a V- shaped recess 110. The other end of each rod 108 is provided with an elongated eyelet 111 which is adapted to be disposed upon the hook--v shaped end 109. When the sections 108 are moved toward each other the end 112 of the eyelet 111 will be received in the recess 110 and will therefore be prevented from being forced out through the open end 113 of the hook 109. The

end 112 is received in the recess 110 when one section 108 is moved by anadjacent section, the

.adjacent section being moved toward the first named section. When the right hand section 108 in Figure 11, for example, is moved toward the right the end 112 of the eyelet 111 will be received in a l-shaped recess 114. A further movement in the same direction will move the left hand section 108 toward the right. The two sections remain connected together during this 'movement, due to the factthat the end 112 is re ceived in the recess 114.

e I claim:-

1. In a device of the type described, a clothes carrying member having slots cut in the ends thereof, said member having vertically extending bores therein and horizontally extending bores therein, said horizontally extending borescommunicating' with said vertically extending bores, said bores being bisected by said cuts, and means secured in said bores and cuts for detachably se-' curing said members together, each of said means having a hook-shaped portion for receiving the supporting wire and another hook shaped portion for receiving the clothes carrying rope. p

2. Sectional clothes line coupling and supporting elements comprising two T shaped members, the head of each T shaped member having a hook formed at each end and the leg of one T 'shaped member having an eye formed at the end thereof in a plane transversely to the head, the leg of the other T shaped member having a hook formed in the plane of the head, the opening being located in the upper portion of the hook whereby the eye may be removed from the hook by vertical move ment of the eye.

GILBERT N. FITCH. 

